If you've walked into a drug store in the last six years, you've probably seen her face. Youthful, serene and perfectly lit, Bulgarian model Marina Asenova is the face of Coty's Sally Hansen Hair Care line. Only, she had no idea up until very recently and is demanding remuneration. [...][Continue Reading...]

Despite what angry New England Patriots fans may think, it turns out Gisele Bundchen is in fact a team player. Last season at Givenchy, the mouthy Brazilian came to the aid of new face Lara Mullen. In a daily diary she's been keeping for the Telegraph, Mullen recalled, "As we are queuing to go out on the runway a strap on my shoe breaks and one of the other models (later identified to me as Gisele Bündchen!) saves the day by ordering the dressers to bring me a new pair." [...][Continue Reading...]

As a woman of color, I am very familiar with the stigma attached to my hair type and its supposed limitations. It is “unruly” and “difficult to manage.” As a small child, my mother would struggle to straighten it on Saturday mornings. I would scream and cry, disrupting the entire household and upsetting my father, who would angrily predict that the damage being done to my hair was not only physical but emotional as well. It wasn’t the pretty picture on the box of chemical relaxer my mother would purchase from the beauty-supply store; it was an ordeal. The pressure to fit into a European ideal of beauty by straightening my hair is inescapable, and in fashion it’s become the norm. [...][Continue Reading...]

Ananda Marchildon's case against Elite Models has ended in a legal victory. The 25-year-old Dutch model, deemed "too fat" by her agency, was awarded the full €65,000 owed to her after winning the fourth season of Holland's Next Top Model. In an exclusive interview with Nadette de Visser, Marchildon said, "After almost two years of struggling, I was finally proven right. A huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders.” [...][Continue Reading...]

Among the 50 models booked for the Marc Jacobs show this past New York fashion week were Ford models Ondria Hardin and Thairine Garcia. Booking Marc Jacobs or Marc by Marc Jacobs -- two of the more hotly anticipated shows of the season -- can secure a model's position throughout the industry as a face to watch. Although all of the Marc Jacobs models' identities were mostly obscured by enormous Jamiroquai-inspired hats, these two young ladies managed to stand out. Both Ms. Hardin and Ms. Garcia are under 16.[...][Continue Reading...]

While the overwhelming majority of models booked for New York fashion week continue to be white, this season there was a small uptick in the number of black models used and an even more significant increase in the number of Asian models used. In only one season, the percentage of looks presented on Asian models has gone from 6.8% to 8.8%. Two percentage points may be nothing to write home about but when it translates to a total of 402 looks being shown on a woman of Asian descent, it adds up to increased exposure for those designers and models, and a shift in the perception that high fashion is reserved for only one demographic. [...][Continue Reading...]

"We're not doing black girls right now,” he said slowly and quietly while peering at me over the rims of his reading glasses. With furrowed brow, I smirked and stifled a laugh. But he was not joking. A mixture of shock and stoicism swept over me. Like so many times when I'm confronted with racism, I felt first a searing pain all throughout my body and then that other, more familiar feeling. I’ve always had this overwhelming need to appear unfazed, as if acting like I hadn’t been slighted would take power away from the perpetrator and cancel out the pain. This time I just wanted to get the hell out of there and quickly. [...][Continue Reading...]